Dream Reflection
by tuxedotservo
Summary: Shinji drifts off into sleep and a dream. But sometimes, dreams becomes more...nightmares and skewed glimpses into the world. PG-13 for descriptions of violence. Constructive feedback always welcome.


"Dreams onto Reality" 

Shinji stared at the ceiling, lost in his thoughts as he struggled to fall asleep. It wasn't   
that he wasn't tired, because he was actually quite exhausted. However, noises, here and   
there, kept shaking him awake. First, it was Misato, playing the television at an extreme   
volume while giggling like a schoolgirl at play. "Drunk..." thought Shinji, sighing.   
Misato had been drinking a lot of beer at dinner, and it was only a matter of time before it   
was going to catch up to her. That time had been when Shinji was trying to sleep. 

After a while, Shinji tuned out the television and giggles, and started to drift off again,   
only to be jolted awake in a start. "Turn that DOWN!" Asuka screamed above   
the noise of the television. "Some of us are trying to sleep! I bet you are even   
keeping Shinji awake...but he's too spineless to tell you!" The volume of the television   
drastically fell, and he could fainting hear Misato apologize as Asuka stormed across   
the room back to her quarters, her footsteps intentionally heavy. 

"How do I get drag into things, even when I'm staying out of them?" Shinji wondered.   
"Why does that always seem to happen? It's hopeless..." 

The house was silent for a few moments, and then, faintly, the stereo kicked on. The   
volume wasn't loud, but high enough so that the words could easily be heard throughout.   
Misato, perhaps afraid of facing Asuka's wrath twice in one evening, had chosen light   
jazz pieces, perhaps to lull herself and the two Children to sleep. Soon, Shinji's eyes fell   
heavy, and he closed them, the words of a particularly pleasant song running through his   
head... 

"_Fly me to the moon, and let me play among the stars..._" 

Shinji stirred, his eyes slowly opening and taking in the image of Misato as she stood   
over him, smiling down. Shinji sprang to a sitting position, startled. "Wha...what...what   
are you doing here, Misato? Is something wrong?" 

"No, nothing," Misato replied, smiling. "I just wanted to look at you." 

In the background, music continued to play. 

"_Let me see what Spring is like, on Jupiter and Mars...In other words...hold my hand!_" 

Misato took Shinji's hand, holding it in a way that didn't make him feel very   
comfortable. He shifted slightly, his body shivering. "Um, Misato? Wha...what are you   
doing?" 

Misato didn't answer, but smiled innocently. She seemed to be thinking something, and   
her eyes were lit up in the faint light of the room. After a moment, Misato leaned in   
close. 

"_In other words, darling, kiss me!_" 

Misato opened her mouth, ever so slightly. "I want to kiss you, like an adult, Shinji,"   
Misato finally admitted, answering his question from before. "I want to share that with   
you." Misato tilted her head, pressing her lips against Shinji's before he could appeal or   
retreat, holding his head in place with her hand. She opened her mouth, and Shinji could   
feel her moisture in his mouth. It had the oddest taste...copper-like. Unsure what to do   
with his hands, they found their way to her waist. Moisture greeted them, and he brought   
his hands to his face, looking at the substance. 

Blood... 

Shinji pushed Misato away, retreating back in his bed, horrified. Misato smiled, and then   
coughed, blood trickling out of the corners of her lips. Her front was bright crimson.   
"What is wrong, Shinji?" Misato inquired, not seeming to be aware of her state. "Don't   
you like it when I kiss you?" 

The kiss... 

Shinji spit out, the blood that Misato had passed to him spraying forward, and he   
screamed in terror. Misato frowned, coughed, and then fell forward, disappearing. Shinji   
looked at the spot, horrified. There was no lasting stain...no trace. Misato had vanished. 

"_Fill my heart with song, and I will sing forevermore!_" 

"Shinji..." 

Shinji looked up, still shaking uncontrollably. Standing before him, at the foot of the   
bed, was Rei. Her eyes glowed in the darkness, her albino figure naked before him. She   
sat on the edge of the bed, her eyes never wavering from his. 

"Rei...why...why are you naked?" Despite not being able to get emotionally close to   
her, Rei was still an attractive figure, and he couldn't help but feel some physical pull   
towards her. His visions of Misato vanished from his consciousness, as his mind   
concentrated fully on Rei. 

"You have taught me so much, Shinji," Rei replied, almost in a whisper. "Things you do   
not even know. You fill my heart with song, Shinji." She opened her arms wide,   
showing her full figure. Shinji, out of pure hormone impulse and curiosity, reached for   
her. Rei started to lean into him, but then froze, her head sinking into her chest, and her   
body starting to glow. 

"_You are all I long for...all I worship and adore..._" 

Rei's body seemed to fall away before Shinji, her skin flaying off in strips. Her head   
perked up, and she seemed to scream, but no sound came out. Shinji tried to close his   
eyes, to look away, as the muscle and bone came into view, but he couldn't. The remains   
of Rei shivered, and then exploded, spraying him with flesh, bone fragments, and fluid.   
Shinji screamed out in pure emotional terror, his eyes finally snapping shut. He could   
feel the various pieces of Rei slide down his skin, and impact on the floor. 

Shinji cried out again. When he stopped, he noticed that the feeling of body parts and   
blood had left him. He opened his eyes, looking around. There was no blood, no flesh.   
His eyes picked up movement in the room, and he shifted his attention towards the   
window, and the pajama-clad figure of Asuka, looking at him. 

"Asuka!" Shinji cried out, relieved that she didn't appear to be acting out of the ordinary.   
"I just had the most terrible..." 

"_In other words...please be true!_" 

Asuka reached her right hand out to him, touching his cheek in a way that was definitely   
not her ordinary behavior. "It's OK," she whispered. "I'm here." 

Shinji looked at Asuka's arm, and his stomach turned. Along its entire length, gashes and   
wounds appeared, and blood oozed out. He jerked his head away from Asuka's reach.   
"Stay away from me!" he screamed at the abomination before him. "Stay AWAY!" He   
tried to escape, but backed up into the wall at the head of his bed, trapped. Asuka   
reached for him again, and he slapped the arm away, bits of flesh coming off in his hands. 

"_In other words...I love you!_" 

Asuka looked devastated. "I thought that I am what you desired?" she asked. "You have   
always wanted me, haven't you?" Moisture appeared in the corner of her left eye, and   
despite her horrific right arm, Shinji felt a tinge of guilt for making her cry. "I'm  
sorry...I'm..." 

Shinji realized Asuka was not crying tears of saline. 

Her eye continued to fill, the red fluid soon encompassing the entire orb of her eye,   
rushing out of the socket like a waterfall and down her face. The left side of Asuka's   
face became a crimson canvas, veiled in blood that flooded forth from her. 

Asuka pinned Shinji to the wall, her right eye glowing in anger. "You DARE reject me,   
you STUPID little boy?" she spat. "You WILL feel me against you, you little PERVERT!   
This is what you wanted...it is what you have ALWAYS wanted, because I am ALL you   
have going for you!" 

Shinji tried to resist, but it was hopeless. Asuka pulled him down, pinning his head onto   
the pillow. "So you would have taken Wonder Girl over ME?" Her face leaned over his,   
splashing her life fluid against his face. "You WILL have me!" Asuka declared, angrily,   
her devastated right arm reaching for his clothes. "And you'll have me with THIS   
body...FOREVER!"

The next thing Shinji knew, he was screaming into his pillow, the moisture from his   
mouth having dampened it during his torment. He sat up, listening and shaking. The   
house was silent, except for a very slight static sound from the living room area. Shinji   
rose from his bed, looked around carefully, and slowly walked to the entrance to his   
room.. 

In the living room, Misato was passed out on the couch, a can of beer in one hand, and a   
strange smile on her face. Shinji carefully walked up to her, using two of his fingers to   
gently, tenderly open her mouth. White teeth and a beer stench are all that greeted him,   
and he sighed in relief. Shinji took the beer can from her hand, carefully placing it on a   
nearby table, and covered Misato up for the night with a small throw blanket. He turned   
the stereo off, looking at the record for a long moment before moving on. 

Shinji started to walk towards Asuka's room, but paused. He picked up the phone, hitting   
the speed dial. He listened as the phone rang repeatedly, impatiently. Finally, a tired,   
level voice answered. "It is a very late hour," the voice said, though not really conveying   
anger. "What is the purpose of this call?" Shinji hung up, and walked into Asuka's   
room. 

Asuka slept on her left side, breathing lightly, her body curled up, but not quite in the   
fetal position. Shinji hesitated, and then lifted the blanket, looking at her perfect,   
muscular right arm. The arm shot up in a flash, but relaxed when it found the blanket,   
pulling it back down onto her body. Shinji shifted his body around and, using his fingers,  
reached under Asuka's face and touched her left cheek. Dry. 

Shinji let out a breath of relief, causing Asuka to stir. "Pervert..." she mouthed, her eyes   
still closed, and then she was fully asleep again, snoring lightly. 

Shinji backed out of the room, entered the kitchen, and placed himself in a chair, his head   
on the table. "What a horrible nightmare," he whispered to himself. He looked around   
the room, and then put his head down on the table. He shivered, and then sobbed, his   
emotions shaken. 

"Just a nightmare..." 

Fanfic copyright 2001 Kevin Turnquist. I don't own NGE, and probably never will, nor   
do I intend to make money off this, so that should be that.


End file.
